A Special Moment
by MinMuni
Summary: Ron has insomnia, Hermione has problems...Put the two together and they end up alone in the Gryffindor common room, in the middle of the night, which results in...well, read on to find out. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters do not belong to me, but to the magnificent Mrs. J.K. Rowling.   
  
Author's Note: Special thanks to my beta-reader, Mary. You were a great help and I'll try to be more careful with my grammar! :)  
  
A SPECIAL MOMENT   
  
Ron Weasley, age fifteen, could not sleep. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't close his eyes and climb into dreamland. It was past midnight and everyone was already asleep in Gryffindor Tower, or at least in his dormitory. He could hear Neville snoring and Harry's slow constant breathing, but he simply couldn't join them. It wasn't that he wasn't tired; in fact, today had been quite tiring, since they had had two exams, which he knew he failed. It was just that his thoughts were all so scrambled up that he didn't think he would be capable of falling asleep so quickly. This was all because of one special person in his complicated life, Hermione Granger. Hermione was the cause of his insomnia. Hermione was the reason for his secret heartache. Hermione was the reason he had started keeping things from Harry. Hermione was everything.  
  
Ever since the Yule Ball in their fourth year, Ron had noticed that his feelings for Hermione had changed. He remembered how awkward he had behaved towards her, after she and Victor Krum, that prat, had become an item. He remembered how he had watched her change over the remainder of that year. He remembered how special she had become to him. He remembered how he had fallen in love with her, so fast and so suddenly; he didn't even remember when he felt it first. Ron smiled, recalling how shocked he had been when his feelings for his best friend had hit him like a bullet.  
  
But, who would believe that this redhead, the youngest brother of the legendary Weasley brothers, would be capable of showing his feelings for anyone, let alone the girl he called an "insufferable little know-it-all" most of the time. He wasn't Captain of the Quidditch team like Charlie, nor was he Head Boy like Bill, nor was he a great prankster like the twins, Fred and George. No, he was Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's sidekick, partner, or the boy who tagged along with the famous Boy Who Lived. Not that he minded it, but he really wanted people to notice him for whom he was. Hermione, however, always made him feel special.   
  
Hermione...what could he say about her? A girl like no other. She could irritate him one minute, and then make him laugh the next. She surprised him with everything she did. He could only describe her because he knew who she really was. Ron loved the way her brown eyes would twinkle at his ridiculous behavior. He loved the way her nose would wrinkle up whenever she was confused, which was rare. But, it was a rare moment to cherish. He loved the way she would twirl her bushy hair around her finger when she was deep in thought about how to save the house-elves. But, the thing he loved most about her was the way she could stir up his anger so easily. It was frustrating. She could make him angry at the smallest thing, which was amusing in a twisted sort of way. Harry would occasionally remind him that Hermione was usually right in their ridiculous arguments, but he cherished every one of them. Unfortunately, Hermione would never know how much she meant to him...would she?  
  
Ever since the day they met, he and Hermione had been very distant to one another. In the first year, he had been extremely rude to her, but had made it up to her by rescuing her from the troll in the girl's bathroom. He had received silent thanks from her then. In their second year, when the Basilisk had petrified Hermione, he put aside his fear for spiders and went with Harry to talk to Hagrid's giant spider, Aragog. They were successful in the end, but when Hermione woke up...what did he get? An awkward shake of the hand, while Harry received a hug. Honestly, what did Potter do to deserve a warm hug from her, while he was stuck with shaking her hand? Well, it was better than nothing.   
  
Then, in the next year, it had been terrible. He had tormented Hermione by accusing her and her horrible orange cat, Crookshanks, of killing Scabbers. When Hagrid had lost his Buckbeak case, however, he realized how much pressure she had been under, and immediately took her side. And what do you know...Granger broke down completely by sobbing into his chest. He had been so taken aback, that he didn't know how to react at first. He had ended up patting her head awkwardly, and she had moved away from him. "Wow, Weasley. Great move," a voice drawled in his head, as he glanced out the window, staring up at the starry sky. "The girl of your dreams has been hugging you, and all you could do was pat her. Really, you could have hugged her back." But, he just couldn't. He was too afraid to reveal his true feelings.  
  
But their fourth year was by far their worst year ever, when it came to the fearsome battle between the two friends. Things had become really intense, especially after the Yule Ball. It was then that Ron Weasley realized that he was in love with Hermione, and the news was so surprising that he was incapable of telling it to Harry. And who would believe that Hermione kissed Harry on the cheek, just because he faced Voldemort, while he was stuck with a feeble attempt of saying good-bye, and then he didn't see either one of them for an entire summer. Hermione was too cozy with Krum and Harry was much too busy to spare time for Ron. And this year, whoa! The minute school started, he had to bear the fact that Hermione had become a prefect and was dating the oh-so-brilliant Quidditch Seeker for the Bulgarian team, Victor Krum. He hated that guy, but the glow that radiated from Hermione's face whenever his name was mentioned, stopped Ron from launching into a long lecture about how that guy didn't even know how to pronounce her name.  
  
School had started out relatively well, with he and Harry receiving only five detentions from Professor Snape. Classes were as usual, boring but bearable, since he and Harry had Hermione to help them with their schoolwork. Nothing terribly exciting or new had occurred, except for one thing. Harry Potter had finally managed to reveal his feelings for Ginny. This, however, led to a huge argument between the two friends, ending with Harry receiving a huge blow to his eye. Ron couldn't admit that the reason he had really punched Harry was because he was the only one left without someone's shoulder to lean on. He, however, was unaware that the entire Gryffindor House knew he had feelings for Hermione.  
  
Lately, however, Ron and Harry had noticed that Hermione seemed, well, distracted, during her classes. She would doze off during lectures, daydream during lunch, and hide herself in the library. Conversations were brief and simple, and were mainly pointless since Hermione rarely looked up from her studies or her reading. They had given up on trying to talk to her, so they spent most of their free time practicing Quidditch or visiting Hagrid.  
  
Ron had decided that there was no point crying over his difficult situation, and was just about to close his tired blue eyes, when he heard a sound downstairs. Startled, he sat up in bed, shivering in the cold. These days, he usually slept with his too-small red flannel pajamas, but since they had been destroyed when Harry had "accidentally" been practicing his hexes on him, Ron had been forced to sleep in his boxers and without a shirt. He slowly crawled out of bed, grabbed his blue bathrobe, tiptoed past Harry's bed, beyond Neville's continuous snoring, creaked open the door, and silently went down the stairs. When he reached the common room, he was surprised to see a slumped figure sobbing near the dying fire, her head buried on top of a chair. Little did Ron know that he was about to find out the truth behind a question he did not know the answer to.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***********************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ron Weasley was the last person Hermione Granger had expected to see downstairs, especially when she was in her current situation. Hermione was in no mood to be badgered by Ron's continuous bickering, but it was Ron's comfort that she desperately craved at the moment. No matter how often she denied her feelings for Ron, she was always glad that it had been Ron who'd heard her sobbing and not someone else. She hurriedly wiped away her tears and stared at the tall redhead standing at the foot of the stairs. He asked, cautiously, "Hermione, is that you?"  
  
She nodded her head and pulled her pink bathrobe tightly around herself. For an October night, it certainly was very chilly. "What are you doing here?" she questioned as she straightened herself and sat down in a proper position, all the while wiping her eyes vigorously to try and erase any trace of tears.  
  
"I could ask you the same thing," Ron said, approaching her and sitting next to her on the floor. "Is everything all right?" he whispered.  
  
"No," Hermione wanted to scream. "Everything's not all right. I thought everything was perfect. I thought I had an amazing life, I was an excellent student, I had terrific friends, I had a wonderful boyfriend and now my life's falling apart, because my so-called boyfriend's dumped me and the boy I care about the most won't even look at me." Instead she mumbled, "Yes."  
  
"Ha, you could've fooled me," Ron remarked leaning against the chair, his arms crossed behind his head. "No one comes down to the common room and starts crying for no reason," he pointed out.  
  
"Well, I could ask you the same thing," Hermione snapped back whipping her head towards him.  
  
"I was having trouble sleeping, but I heard someone crying, so I came down to investigate," Ron replied, defending himself. He couldn't believe this witch. All he wanted to do was comfort her and here he was arguing with her. "So will you please tell me what's bothering you now?" he finished, glancing over the top of her bushy head.  
  
Hermione sighed. How could she explain it to him? Ever since she had started dating Victor, Ron had made it clear that he didn't want anything to do with "that git" and that he wouldn't talk about him. Now how in Merlin's stars could she tell him that he had broken up with her because he had met this beautiful pureblood Welsh girl? Since he was a famous Quidditch player, he didn't think it was wise of him to associate with a Muggle-born. She had been so wrapped up in her own reverie that she only broke away from it, when Ron cleared his throat and said, "Hermione."  
  
"Huh?" She glanced up from the floor, startled, and was caught up in his unwavering gaze. She felt like he could see her deepest thoughts, and could feel her heart pounding just by looking at him. Honestly, when did she start acting like this around Ron Weasley?   
  
"I'm waiting," Ron, said gently, his face alert and calm.   
  
Hermione almost didn't trust her own voice, but she said, "Well, remember Viktor?"  
  
"How could I forget?" Ron groaned, knowing he had gotten himself into a mess.  
  
She glared at him her eyes flashing, and hissed, "Well, if you don't want to know, then don't ask." She got up to go back to her room, when he grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "No, I'm listening," Ron, answered soothingly. "What is it?"  
  
Hermione took a deep breath and continued, "Viktor and I have been dating for the past four months. I thought everything was okay between us, since we constantly sent letters to one another and I thought we had feelings for each other." She stopped there and she suddenly realized it was difficult to breathe in the room. But she went on with her answer. "I should have known better. Today, I was upstairs talking to Ginny, when this strange owl came into my room, with a letter bearing for me. Viktor had sent it. And can you believe him? He dumped me, Ron. He left me for this Welsh girl he met during Quidditch practice. They were practically head over heels for one another. He said he treasured our time together but he never really loved me. He said he found love with this girl." Hermione suddenly realized tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was gasping for air. "He left me, Ron. You were right. How could anyone ever want a girl like me?" She let out a short sob and buried her face in her hands.  
  
While Hermione was revealing her emotions, Ron had remained silent. Once she was done, however, he was overcome with a powerful feeling, so strong that he didn't quite know how to control himself. He was furious with Krum for betraying Hermione, and he was equally angry with himself for making Hermione feel worthless in his eyes. No one, except him of course, had the right to bother Hermione, let alone humiliate her the way Krum had. Hermione was pretty, too, and even Ron couldn't deny it at that very moment, despite the fact that her eyes were puffy, her cheeks were swollen and her hair was disheveled.  
  
"Hermione," Ron began softly, gently touching her shoulder. She didn't respond to his statement, but continued sniffling quietly. "Mione, listen to me. Krum doesn't know what he's thinking. If he was as smart as you are, he wouldn't have left you alone like this. He doesn't know that he's just left the most amazing, talented, wonderful, and most beautiful girl in the wizarding world. He'll regret it for the rest of his life. That dickhead can go to hell for all I care," he finished bitterly, praying for a positive reaction from his devastated friend.  
  
"Don't swear, Ron," was the muffled reply, followed by a stifled snort. Pretty soon, the two friends were cracking up with silent laughter at the fact that Hermione had been facing a terrible predicament and all she could say was 'Don't swear, Ron.' After a few minutes of blissful happiness, Hermione muttered under her breath, "Ron, did you mean everything you said about me?" She stared at her hands, unable to meet his gaze.  
  
His warm finger slid under her chin, tilted her head up and turned it towards him, his blue eyes filled with love and concern. "Every word," was the reply she got. At that moment, neither Hermione nor Ron knew what they were thinking.   
  
All they knew was that one minute they had been staring into each other's eyes and the next they were kissing with such passion that Ron found it impossible to release his hold on her lips. He ran his hand through her hair, and wrapped his arm around her waist. Meanwhile, Hermione had wrapped her arms around his neck, and was occasionally running her hands through his red hair. They broke away reluctantly, both of them desperate for air.  
  
"Ron," Hermione began shyly, releasing Ron from her grip. "Can you spend the night down here with me?"  
  
"I thought you'd never ask," Ron grinned at her uncertainty, as he lay down slowly, allowing Hermione to lie down next to him. He pulled out his wand and conjured a blanket for them.   
  
He pulled his dear friend close, and they both fell asleep, but not before saying to the other, "Thank you."  
  
They didn't know that at that very moment, two mischievous people were crouched behind the sofa, each giggling at this special moment. One of the two had her arm extended and was saying slyly, "It appears you owe me a galleon, Harry Potter."  
  
"Fine, fine..." Harry grumbled rummaging through his robes for a misplaced galleon. "Here Ginny," he stated firmly, placing it into her outstretched hands. "Thank you," she replied, grinning.   
  
"Well," Ginny said, smiling at the pair, who were too busy wrapped up in their own dreams to notice their presence, "That went well."  
  
"Yeah," Harry muttered, glancing at his two best friends. "But it was certainly worth the wait, wasn't it?" he asked his girlfriend.  
  
"It certainly was," Ginny remarked. The two of them quietly left the room, while Ron and Hermione remained blissfully asleep, each next to the one person they deeply adored  
  
*** 


End file.
